Robert F. Kennedy Jr must resign
Vaccine falsehoods are contributing to violence
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention headquarters was subject to a horrific barrage of gunfire last week. A police officer was killed. It has been reported that the shooter was motivated by animosity toward the COVID vaccines.
We don’t yet know from where the killer got his vaccine information. But irrespective of this particular case, we do know that Robert F. Kennedy Jr has been a key spreader of vaccine falsehoods. His lies haven’t stopped since he assumed the helm of Health and Human Services earlier this year. From that powerful post, he has continued to sow doubt about immunizations.
After the shooting, Kennedy made gestures to condemn the violence. While I don’t doubt that he is opposed to violence, his statements ring hollow given his previously vicious (and often outlandish) attacks on the CDC and other public health actors. He’s called the CDC a “cesspool of corruption” and accused them of lying about the COVID vaccines.
This is only the tip of the iceberg of Kennedy’s wacky claims. He is trapped in a web of overlapping, contradictory, and bizarre conspiracy theories that implicate just about everyone but himself. Here’s a taste of how he viewed the pandemic. 5G cellular signals were involved somehow.
When he was first nominated for his post, I called Kennedy a “grade-A crank.” That was no exaggeration. He isn’t convinced, for example, that HIV causes AIDS, and has suggested that the CDC (along with Dr. Fauci and other scientists) intentionally hid information that challenged the link between the two.
This sort of craziness always disqualified Kennedy from office. But in light of the violence public health authorities are now facing, Kennedy must finally be held accountable for his lies. He must resign or be fired.
Such a request is obviously wishful thinking in this day and age. Politicians no longer believe in shame or regret. But it’s worth at least trying to make this reasonable demand. Kennedy remains one of the greatest dangers to public health this country has ever seen.
AMEN. Still cannot pinch myself and believe he has this office. He has a real potential to kill us all., especially and first, our children.